Then he asked her this question: “These girls kept their parasols up in the sun; you kept yours up in the wood under the shade of the trees. What was the meaning of that?”
“O uncle, the world is foolish. It is precisely when in a wood that one must keep a parasol up.”
“For what reason?”
“Because a wood is always full of birds and monkeys. The birds let fall their droppings and pieces of bones, and the monkeys their muck and scraps of the fruit they eat. Besides, as they are of a wild nature, they go springing from bough to bough, and bits of wood come falling down. When one is in the open this does not happen, or, if it takes place, it is but seldom. Therefore a parasol must be kept open in a wood; in the open it is not necessary to do so.”
“Good, O maiden; this also I comprehend.”
Presently he said, “These girls took refuge in a temple when the wind arose with rain, but you remained in the open air.”
“O uncle, one certainly ought to remain in the open air and not take refuge in a temple.”
“O maiden, what is the reason for that?”
“O uncle, such empty temples are never free from orphans, bastards, and sharpers. If one of them were to touch me on a limb or joint as I entered such a temple, would not that be unpleasant to my parents? Moreover, it is better to lose one’s life in the open than to enter an empty temple.”
Full of delight at the demeanour of the maiden, the Brahman betook himself to the dwelling of the householder [[114]]Balamitra and said, desiring to obtain the maiden, “May it be well! May it be good!”